Beautiful Disaster
by grilledbamboo
Summary: Was it fate that she met him in the bar? Was it fate that he needed her healing presence? Was it fate that made him choose between love and fame? Was it fate that these two wounded souls be torn apart when they needed each other most? AU Inuyasha/Kagome


Beautiful Disaster

Prologue

* * *

Among the modern world, humans and demons alike find themselves lost in the crowd. It's all a matter of who can make their way up the food chain. The streets of New York are filled with promise – the next 'big thing'. Broadway, gangs, clubs, fenced schools, monstrous skyscrapers – not much the big city doesn't offer. From the diner on the corner all the neighborhood's events are observed – a street performer sits beside a hat begging for tips – a guy gets mugged across the street. Everyday life.

Today, the unsuspecting passerby gets lucky – one of the most beautiful yet sad sights graces the path. This girl slams the door of the local newspaper company – her _former _employer. Muttering under her breath, she glares back as a deep roar is heard through the beaten walls. A fresh coat of paint with half the siding. Blooming flowerboxes and barred windows. Nothing new.

Turning spiteful eyes on the exterior of the sad business, she spits on the front steps. She turns to walk away, but not before more thunderous yelling is heard from within. Turning back, she opens the door, nearly throwing the rickety thing off its hinges.

"Fuck you, too! Thanks for nothing, asshole…"

And she slams the door. The frail building barely withstands the beating, swaying precariously, debating whether or not to fall. Not today. Stomping up the street to her car, tremors ripple through the ground of the city as her short heels split concrete. Sliding into the driver's seat of her battered 1965 mustang, the engine rumbles, coughing and groaning in protest as she turns the key.

_Don't die on me now… I need a drink. I need a job. I need a life. Damnit!_

Slamming the heels of her palms against the steering wheel of the dead car, she leans her forehead against it, staring unseeingly at the speedometer, frustrated tears gathering in her eyes. With a sigh, she hauls herself back onto her feet and with slumped shoulders, walks up the street, seeking a cheap drink and a possible way home.

* * *

Talented fingers strummed the strings, filling the air with the song of his soul. Alone on stage, his band-mates watched in awe as he amazed the crowd with his music. Another wanna-be rock band, drifting from bar to bar night after night, and every night, Inuyasha would perform one acoustic solo. He had every night since she had died. And every night in the darkness of the bar, as the smoke filled his lungs and suffocated him effortlessly, he would shed a tear or two on her behalf.

_Kikyou…_

He had been about to marry the woman – she had moved all of her things into his two bedroom apartment for God's sake! It wasn't much… after all, on a wandering musician's budget, there wasn't much to brag about. But she hadn't cared.

As his fingers glided effortlessly across the guitar strings, he leaned forward to the microphone; for the first time that night staring into the crowd.

"_Seize the day, or die regretting the time you lost_

_It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over…"_

The crowd grew silent, quietly appraising Inuyasha's remorseful tune. Kagome stumbled in through the back door of the bar, ambling to the counter in the back as Inuyasha's sorrow-laced words filled the room. She could only faintly hear him; her mind was so clouded with disgust, regret, and exhaustion that she wouldn't have been able to tell the bartender the color of her shirt.

"What'll it be, miss?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance. It looked like this poor beauty had been to hell and back. She was only able to stay upright by clutching the counter with both hands.

Noticing him for the first time, she looked up, revealing the dark circles under her eyes, more appropriate for a skeleton than on her delicate face. Work had been hell – she'd been there for twenty nine hours without food or sleep, staring at a hypnotizing computer screen, and on top of that she had gotten fired. What was the world coming to?

"Give me a Cosmopolitan," she requested clearly enough, though her mind was spinning as she tried to sift through all the sounds from within the bar. Inuyasha's words drifted to her on the cloud of smoke that floated thickly, swirling under the lights. She glanced over at him, his short silver hair catching the light in the small room, his golden skin glowing like a beacon through the fog.

"_Trials in life, questions of us existing here, don't wanna die alone without you here_

_Please tell me what we have is real_

_So, what if I never hold you, yeah, or kiss your lips again_

_Woooaaah, so I never want to leave you and the memories of us to see_

_I beg don't leave me."_

The bartender slid her the drink, clearing his throat to get her attention. Casting her eyes back to him, she thanked him quietly before bringing the glass to her lips and turning back to admire the musician on stage. He looked almost pained as the words escaped his lips, and she wondered if he had been through anything as horrible as her. _Probably not, seeing as he can still think coherently, _she thought with a frown.

"_Trials in life, questions of us existing here, don't wanna die alone without you here_

_Please tell me what we have is real_

_Silence you lost me, no chance for one more day_

_I stand here alone_

_Falling away from you, no chance to get back home_

_I stand here alone_

_Falling away from you, no chance to get back home"_

_So sad… I wonder why,_ she thought absently, getting up to settle at a table directly in front of the stage. She found herself infatuated with this young performer, and she craned her neck back so the light would catch his face.

When the light highlighted his features, sending dark shadows cascading across his flesh, she noticed the tears that streaked down both of his cheeks.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I regretfully do not own Inuyasha, but thankfully niether do you.

**Please Review**. ((An added perk about reviewing is that you will get a little preview of the next chapter. --***INCENTIVE***--))

The song featured in this chapter is _Seize the Day _by_ Avenged Sevenfold._

For those of you not reading this for the first time, there is an explanation on my profile for the re-posting. As always, thank you for your continued support.

Until next time... grilledbamboo.


End file.
